The Panthers have failed to land a serviceable replacement following Jordan Gross' retirement last offseason, and will likely take notice if a top left tackle prospect like Stanford’s Andrus Peat drops to them at pick No. 25.
Brandon Scherff and La'el Collins are widely expected to leave the board before Carolina's first pick. There are also concerns as to whether Collins' game translates well to the outside-zone run concepts the Panthers favor.
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Peat's game does translate to the Carolina offense, and he boasts a 4.62-second 20-yard shuttle time, good for the 74th percentile among tackles in MockDraftable's database. His measurables are also impressive at 6-7, 313 pounds with 34 3/8-inch arms.
Peat finished fifth in the FBS in pass-block efficiency last year, via Pro Football Focus, supplemented by a top 10 run-block efficiency score.
D.J. Humphries, T.J. Clemmings, Ereck Flowers, Jake Fisher and Cedric Ogbuehi also could reasonably land in the latter part of the first round, and they also possess a mix of first-round upside and major question marks. Peat has his share of lapses, but that length and agility project extremely well for a left tackle in the modern game.
Andrus Peat certainly has tools to be an asset in screen game. https://t.co/jHIqqoSgAR
— Thomas Emerick (@ThomasEmerick) April 26, 2015Peat finished seventh among 22 measured tackles at this year's combine in the 20-yard shuttle, only behind players that were both lighter and shorter. However, Peat has shown core strength concerns and can get roughed up when hands get to his chest.
On the play below, Peat (No. 70) lines up outside the tackle on the opposite side of the formation. It's a run call where Peat's chest is drilled after an explosive first step from fellow projected early-rounder Owamagbe Odighizuwa of UCLA.
Andrus Peat facing Owamagbe Odighizuwa, this time on right side. Hands hit Peat's chest and.... https://t.co/IE00aTP8cq
— Thomas Emerick (@ThomasEmerick) April 26, 2015Asked Owamagbe Odighizuwa who the best tackles he faced are. Answers: Matt Kalil, Andrus Peat and then at the @seniorbowl: Donovan Smith.
— Patrick Woo (@P_Woo) April 22, 2015Newton has notoriously been hit far more than any quarterback in football since entering the league, and those hits add up. Much of that is Newton's willingness to take physical contact and the advantage he gains for Carolina’s offense in doing so.
But much of that in 2014 was Byron Bell, who finished 51st among 53 tackles in PFF pass-block efficiency. This just one year after Gross finished 10th in the metric.
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There's also the real possiblity Peat doesn't last until 25th overall or that the Panthers go another year without getting the blindside protector of Newton's future, at least not on day one. The top measurables comparison for Peat in the MockDraftable database is Anthony Castonzo, the first-rounder protecting Andrew Luck's blindside.
Stanford's run-heavy ethos is somewhat reminiscent of the direction Carolina has trended toward when at their best, finishing eighth in run-play percentage and second over the final three weeks, per TeamRankings.com. Carolina also mitigated the left tackle albatross by having Newton release quicker, and this even produced a couple nice stretches where Newton showed growth making rhythm throws in the intermediate game.
Newton’s time to throw, sack or cross line of scrimmage decreased from 3.09 seconds in 2013 to 2.92 seconds in 2014, while his time to pass attempt dropped from 2.73 to 2.66. His percentage of throws from the pocket in 2.5 seconds or less jumped from 40.3 percent to 44.3. These are not jarring changes, but do in part reflect an offense’s effort to deal with abysmal left tackle play, aided by a couple more decisiveness stretches from Newton.
Free agent additions Michael Oher and Jonathan Martin are ideally just journeymen depth after poor play at their two previous stops. It's not the only hole on Carolina's roster, but their first pick could very well come amid an offensive tackle run to close out Thursday night.